Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $264.65 and last traded at $258.6570, with a volume of 23846 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $255.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on POWL shares. Glj Research started coverage on shares of Powell Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Powell Industries from $142.33 to $160.33 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Powell Industries from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Powell Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Powell Industries in a report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.25.

Powell Industries Trading Up 9.4%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.81.

Powell Industries (NASDAQ:POWL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. Powell Industries had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The business had revenue of $251.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Powell Industries, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Powell Industries Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Powell Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Powell Industries news, EVP Michael William Metcalf sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.00, for a total value of $1,584,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,678,400. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett Alan Cope sold 4,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.96, for a total transaction of $1,038,782.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 164,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,568,539.96. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 248,688 shares of company stock worth $44,535,053. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Powell Industries

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Powell Industries by 42.2% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,314,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $705,475,000 after acquiring an additional 686,588 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 1,230,312.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 775,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $247,106,000 after acquiring an additional 775,097 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 706,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,263,000 after acquiring an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 65.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 615,067 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $187,479,000 after acquiring an additional 244,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Powell Industries by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 352,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. 89.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Powell Industries Company Profile

Powell Industries, Inc is an industrial electrical engineering company specializing in the design, manufacture and integration of customized power control and distribution solutions. The firm’s offerings range from medium‐voltage switchgear and power control centers to bus duct, motor control centers and specialty transformers. Powell also provides automation systems, protective relaying, metering, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platforms, and turnkey engineering services to help clients manage critical power infrastructure.

Serving the oil and gas, petrochemical, refining, utility, mining and industrial sectors, Powell’s products are engineered to meet demanding performance, safety and reliability requirements.